What is it that I don’t am doing wrong with wooden flooring (pic)

[TheWoodWife]

So I pushed out the boat and forked out for herringbone parquet engineered wood in my hallway and open living/diner. Not cheap. The people who installed it messed up and had to come back to sand and restain. We are still arguing over this.

We got it because I thought it would take out all the stress of spills etc. Nope!

I keep finding marks like this all over my floors. The people in this house are all adults. Wtf is going on? My heart sinks every time I attempt to wipe a stain knowing that it’s there for good pretty much.

What am I getting wrong? So confused!

Attached is a new stain I found this AM. I’m so over it. Might as well have chucked my hard earned cash down the toilet 😢

I have £0 in savings. I’m so down over this.

Did they seal it after staining? According to this it's stain then seal

mrsander.co.uk/articles/refinishing-an-engineered-wood-floor/#:~:text=Light%20sanding%20When%20sanding%20an,sanding%20through%20the%20veneer%20layer.

Oh no! That’s not good. I’m planning on getting some soon so no advice, sorry

I believe they did both as our instruction was to make the floor more robust

Watching with interest. This must be incredibly frustrating after forking out so much for it.

I'd go to a couple of flooring stores who specialise - iv found independents seem to be the best and ask for advice

I had a whole handling with amtico flooring that wasn't installed properly. Some installers just go ahead and have no idea

We were inspired to get wooden floor by our stays at air bnbs. Never had a problem with a single spill. It seems all I have to do is look at our floor and it stains. So disheartened

I think our flooring is slightly different (solid wood rather than engineered) but my understanding when looking at both was that they're susceptible to water damage and staining? So much so that our installer told us if we wanted it in the kitchen (we didn't) that we'd have to sign a waiver.

It's robust in the sense of not chipping, cracking or tearing (as is the risk with tiles/lino) but that's not the same as how it wears from an aesthetic point of view. Our installer told us if we wanted something wipe clean that we'd need kardean.

Ours isn't sealed and isn't intended to be (the idea is it will naturally wear with walking on it) but there was a different type that we could get sealed and polished - although that would mean it wouldn't stain but we would have to be careful about scuffs and scratches.

I think it is down to how it was sealed, or what they used. We have engineering wood flooring in a kitchen and a bathroom and have had no problems.

It looks like your floor is not sealed (probably waxed rather than varnished/laquered) and therefore it can be susceptible to water marks and stains.

We have an oak engineered board floor - originally (20 years ago) it was stained and waxed, and looked like the finish on yours. It did get stained and 'worn in' over the years, but still looked ok. At the start, every little scratch, spill or stain drove me mad, but after a while I just accepted it, and the slighty worn look of the floor was part of its charm. We had it redone a couple of times over the years, although it definitely should have been done more often.

Just recently we've had it sanded back and lacquered rather than waxed. I don't really like the finish quite as much, but it will certainly keep looking new for much longer, as it's far less likely to stain.

I think you need to get someone else in for a second opinion.

Hi @TheWoodWife one way of getting rid of water marks on wood is to use a hairdryer and buff with a soft cloth, there is also a method of using an iron, but I’ve only tried the hairdryer myself. Aside from that your floor could definitely use a good sealant over it that will make it less porous and more resistant.

My parents had parquet flooring when I was young. I thought they always are susceptible to water damage and stains. I remember them being polished all the time. I think it maybe you just need to sand and repolish regularly. I remember scratches on them too. People think of them as more homely and warm because of the natural wear isn't it?

We have engineered wood. No big problems with stains. Was never really sealed.

A joiner told us to get engineered wood for kitchen areas.

What are you washing the floor with? Is your floor oiled, hard waxed or lacquered finish?

We have oiled engineered oak and mop weekly with manufacturers floor soap which contains oils that replenish the oak. If the floor is not cleaned correctly it will stain much more easily. Water stains disappear when they dry on my floor. Oil stains take longer to fade but do with a bit of effort.

Consult the flooring manufacturer for advice!

I use the Method Wood Cleaner - the one that smells like Almonds. Good brush before, hoover to gets the bits I misssd, very rung out microfibre if needed (only done a couple times in the dead ofwinter) and then the Method stuff.

I need to ask the builders what the subcontractors did with the floor re finish. But I told them it needed to be robust.

Thanks all for input

Your floor hasn't been sealed/varnished! It's absorbing whatever liquid drops on it. You're going to need to re-sand it, re-stain it then seal/varnish it.